Mergers & Acquisitions

European missile maker MBDA edged towards its biggest shake-up in over a decade on Friday as Airbus Group signalled interest in expanding its share, while Italy's Finmeccanica said it would be open to selling its stake.

Here's how our list of threatened energy stocks has performed since December. The woes of Linn Energy (Symbol : LINE) illustrate just how risky oil stocks can still be even after the sector has taken such a beating. Back on Dec. 3, we listed 10 highly leveraged U.S. oil producers with the most to lose, after the price of oil in the United States had dropped 37% from a June 2014 high.

Antares Capital is in the market with $13.9 billion of senior secured credit facilities backing its sale to Canada Pension Plan Investment Board from General Electric Capital Corp, which include a jumbo $10.7 billion asset-backed loan.

Enbridge Inc (Symbol : ENB), Canada's largest pipeline operator, is considering natural gas and power generation acquisitions to help boost the diversity of its asset base, the company's CEO said on Friday. "We've got such a tremendous liquids pipeline franchise," Chief Executive Al Monaco said on a conference call. "We're scouring every opportunity out there and we will continue to do that," he added.

U.K. regulators look set to give banks a looser rein than many thought--at least when it comes to returning cash to shareholders. That was the big positive behind Lloyds Banking Group (Symbol : LYG)' s first-half results, which were hurt by a GBP1.4 billion charge related to insurance mis-selling that was about double expectations. Lloyds only paid its first dividend of any kind since the financial crisis at the end of last year.

- United Parcel Service Inc (Symbol : UPS) said it would buy Coyote Logistics from private equity firm Warburg Pincus for $1.8 billion to expand its full-truckload services, the latest deal in a rapidly consolidating logistics industry.

Protesting ferry-workers blocked road access to the northern French port of Calais with burning tyres on Friday, police said. The workers have in recent weeks intermittently blocked the port and sometimes the Channel Tunnel in a protest over job cuts after tunnel operator Eurotunnel agreed to sell its MyFerryLink ferry unit to Danish-owned DFDS.

United Parcel Service Inc (Symbol : UPS) said it would buy Coyote Logistics from private equity firm Warburg Pincus for $1.8 billion to expand its full-truckload services. The world's largest courier company said on Friday the deal is expected to add to its earnings in 2016.

UPS said Friday it has agreed to buy truckload freight brokerage Coyote Logistics from private-equity firm Warburg Pincus in a deal valued at $1.8 billion. UPS will finance the deal with cash on hand and debt, the parcel delivery company said in a statement. The deal is expected to boost 2016 earnings and to close within 30 days.

Berry Plastics Group Inc (Symbol : BERY) said it would buy Avintiv Inc, which makes materials used in products ranging from diapers to disinfectant wipes, for about $2.45 billion in cash from Blackstone Group LP (Symbol : BX). Berry Plastics (Symbol : BERY) said it expects the deal to add to its earnings and free cash flow and that it has secured debt financing to fund the deal.

European missile maker MBDA moved closer towards a reshuffle of ownership on Friday as Airbus Group signalled interest in expanding its share, while Italy's Finmeccanica said it would be open to selling "at the right price".

AT&T's (Symbol : T) stock is expected to rise as investors await more details about the company's strategy following its merger with DirecTV and expansion into Latin America. AT&T (Symbol : T) will hold an analyst day on Aug. 12 in Dallas to discuss its strategy after completing the acquisitions of DirecTV and companies in Mexico, according to sources familiar with the matter.

The following bids, mergers, ** Martin Sorrell's WPP and buyout firm Providence agreed to buy British marketing group Chime Communications for 374 million pounds in a bid to turn the smaller group into a global sports marketing agency.

A surge of takeover activity involving healthcare, financial and retail companies lifted the value of deals in July over $430 billion, making it the seventh-busiest mergers and acquisition month on record, Thomson Reuters data showed. A total of $436.4 billion worth of deals had been concluded as of July 30, including 14 bumper deals worth over $5 billion apiece, according to the data.

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